• Aspenglen Amphitheater - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was active in Rocky Mountain National Park throughout the New Deal era, 1933-42.  Among the other works undertaken by CCC enrollees was the construction of three amphitheaters, at Aspenglen Campground, Moraine Park Museum and Glacier Basin campground.  These were used for educational presentations by park rangers and staff. The Aspenglen and Glacier Basin amphitheaters were built in 1938 (Brock, p. 43), as part of general upgrades to those campgrounds (Brock, p 41).  The amphitheaters were designed by the National Park Service in Rustic Style and meant to blend into the landscape and surrounding trees.  The one...
  • Bear Lake Comfort Station - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was very active in Rocky Mountain National Park during the 1930s. The Bear Lake Comfort Station, located on the Bear Lake trail, is one of the many structures in the park built by CCC enrollees.   The rubblestone construction is typical of national park Rustic Style of the first half of the 20th century.  The building now serves to house a generator.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
  • Campground Improvements - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made improvements to three of the existing campgrounds in Rocky Mountain National Park: Endovalley, Aspenglen and Glacier Basin.  These three were the most popular campgrounds at the time and their facilities were antiquated, so CCC stepped in to upgrade them (later, they would add  a new campground at Timber Creek on the west side of the park).  (Brock, p 40) The campgrounds were all renovated according to National Park Service standards embodied in the writings of  E.P. Meinecke – Camp Ground Policy (1932) and Camp Planning and Camp Reconstruction (1934).  In 1933-34 CCC enrollees deployed logs and boulders to...
  • Fall River Entrance Ranger Station - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed three buildings for what was then called the Bighorn Ranger Station at the east entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park – which was the original entrance on this side of the park. The group included a ranger office with garage, a ranger residence and secondary residence/utility building. The three structures were designed by Edward Nickel of the park service in the classic National Park rustic style popular in the first half of the 20th century. "The residence building particularly reflects the design characteristics of the style with its uncoursed native stone foundation, log...
  • Fall River Road to Trail Ridge Road Connector - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    A 2.1 mile segment of road was built in 1933-34 between the Fall River Road entrance and the junction with Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, completing a key link in the park's highway system.  The work was performed by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) with financing by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in the amount of $32,000 and incidental labor by relief workers from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Fall River Road was the original entrance on the park's eastern boundary for access to Horseshoe Park.  Fall River Road was extended by...
  • Fish Ponds - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was active in Rocky Mountain National Park during the whole of the program's lifetime, 1933 to 1942.  There were four main camps in the park. The CCC participated in a fish-restocking program, which the National Park Service had initiated in 1931 to deal with depleted lakes and streams due to years of unregulated fishing.  The main contribution of the CCC was to build four fish-rearing ponds, at Horseshoe Park, near Endovalley campground, at Hollowell Park, and near Grand Lake. The ponds were roughly 200 x 100 feet and 10 feet deep. (Brock, p 42). Fry from the Estes...
  • Gem Lake Trail Improvements - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Gem Lake Trail at Rocky Mountain National Park is on the National Register of Historic Places (2008, 5LR.11810.1), in part for New Deal improvements: "The trail is associated with the early resort industry and tourism in the Estes Park region, particularly in its function as an equestrian route.  The trail assumed its current alignment with the completion of alterations in 1923.  During 1940 and 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) performed trail maintenance and improvements in keeping with National Park Service Naturalistic Design principles of the 1920s through the 1940s.  The property is associated with the Rocky Mountain National Park and...
  • Moraine Park Amphitheater - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    Moraine Park, a large valley in the southeastern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park, was  purchased in 1931 by the National Park Service, which cleared the area of most of its former private resort structures. In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA) funded a thorough remodeling of the building to convert it into Rocky Mountain National park’s primary museum. In 1935-36, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was called upon to build an amphitheater, designed by the National Park Service, next to the museum. It an seat 500 people. (Brock, p 43). It was added to the national register listing for Moraine Park...
  • Recreational Development - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915 to preserve a spectacular section of the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  Several new additions to the park have been made over the years, until it reached its present size of 415 square miles. The park saw considerable recreational development in the 1920s under the National Park Service (NPS), but it benefitted enormously in the 1930s from the New Deal.  Most notable of the New Deal agencies was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), but the \ park also gained funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA), road work by the Bureau of...
  • Shadow Mountain Lookout - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), working for the US Forest Service, constructed four fire lookout towers around Rocky Mountain National Park.  The one on the summit of Shadow Mountain, overlooking Grand Lake CO in the southwest corner of the park, is the last survivor of the four. Completed in 1933, the three-story lookout was built in the classic Rustic style favored by the US Forest Service and National Park Service at the time.  It consists of a concrete foundation, two stories of stone masonry, and a wooden upper story. It remained in use until 1968 and is today a scenic destination for...
  • Staff Residential Area - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The New Deal contributed many residential buildings for park staff at Rocky Mountain National Park, particularly in the large cluster of housing next to the utility area – the main maintenance station for the park which is near the Beaver Meadows entrance. The National Park Service began construction of the area in the 1920s and completed it in the 1930s with the help of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor.  The New Deal agencies built four residences,  renovated six others and left behind some CCC camp buildings. The overall style of the buildings is national park rustic,...
  • Timber Creek Campground and Comfort Stations - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the Timber Creek Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park (Brock, p 40).  Timber Creek was the first campground on the west side of the park, in the valley of the upper Colorado River. Brock says the campground was done in 1941, but that doesn't jibe with information on the comfort stations, which were built in 1939, according to the national register; presumably the campground and comfort stations were done at the same time. The three comfort stations, or restrooms, constructed by CCC enrollees were designed in 1935 in classic Rustic Style by National Park Service landscape architect...
  • Trail Ridge Road Completion - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    Trail Ridge Road is the main route across Rocky Mountain National Park It is a marvel of highway engineering and provides stunning views of the park, particularly as it traverses the alpine regions above timber line. The road is 48 miles long and its summit near the Alpine Ranger Station is over 12,000 feet.  It is the highest continuous paved road in North America and is now a National Scenic Byway. Trail Ridge Road was built by the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) and its contractors in 1929-32, to replace the old Fall River road.  It was a fully engineered, graded and...
  • Trail Ridge Road Rock Walls - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    Trail Ridge Road is the main route across Rocky Mountain National Park, built in 1929 to 1932 to replace the old Fall River road.  It is a marvel of highway engineering and provides stunning views of the park, particularly as it traverses the alpine regions above timber line. The road is 48 miles long and its summit near the Alpine Ranger Station is over 12,000 feet.  It is the highest continuous paved road in North America and is now a National Scenic Byway. In building the road, the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) and its contractors built several miles of low guard...
  • Trail Ridge Store - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    In 1935, enrollees in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) constructed a "museum, curios shop and coffee house" at Fall River Pass. Other CCC 'boys' came back in 1939 and added an extension to the building for toilets and a water supply  (Brock, p. 43). Today, the building functions as the Trail Ridge Store and Cafe, and a large, new visitor center has been constructed next to it. The Trail Ridge Store is built of stone and timber, with a shingle roof, in the classic National Park Service Rustic Style.  CCC enrollees were very helpful to the National Park Service as museum guides, as well.
  • Trails and Trail Renovation - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built and improved trails throughout Rocky Mountain National Park, working on such things as rock wall construction and trail alignment.  The CCC was active in the park for the entire life of the program, 1933 to 1942.   The CCC 'boys' built around 100 miles of trails – one-third of the total. It is uncertain exactly which trails the CCC enrollees improved, but "the enrollees were largely the driving force behind creating, maintaining, and reconstructing many popular trails."  (Brock, p 40)   Several trails are included in the National Historic Registry listings for Rocky Mountain...
  • Utility Area - Rocky Mountain National Park CO
    The utility area is the principle maintenance station of Rocky Mountain National Park. It is located near the Beaver Meadows entrance at Estes Park CO. It is a large complex of functional buildings, including offices, shops, garages, and storage, centered around a maintenance yard and machine shop (plus a substantial residential area for park employees).  The National Park Service began construction of the area in the 1920s and completed it in the 1930s with the help of Public Works Administration (PWA) funding and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor.   The CCC was present in the park from 1933 to 1942 and...